I read Allen's idea in another post and love it! I am afraid if I just let my husband try without instruction, it may really crash.
How do you rig it up to fall safely? What do you use in place of Florescent bulbs?

You have a few options
#1 have several fixtures in the room like these- and have one be out with dummy bulbs, that is the one that drops.teklight4.jpg
#2 use white bulb shields and LED lights to make a fake bulb or two that goes in the fixture or a white rope light inside the tubes would be great also.http://www.1000bulbs.com/category/Pl...FSWoPAodE3gAdg

id be wary of dropping it over people,even with a safeguard in place.your back up safety fails...you just fractured someones skull. it does sound like a great scare,but ya really cant do that over someones head,its begging for trouble you dont want.i hate to sound like a buzzkill but...

Hacksaw,
you aren't a buzzkill. the scare is that it drops near them as opposed to over or on them- look at the referenced thread to get a better idea. And you absolutely could drop it over their heads, but it would not be as scary, unless you made it short out first so the looked up at it. Rig it right it will never fail.I drop stuff from overhead all the time in my show.

My husband said he will make it so safe, we could drop a car. ( maybe next year..lol) We are replacing the bulbs with Allen's ideas.
I appreciate the concerned post. I like to read it out loud while they are building, just so the caution advise is not always coming from me.
It will be completely safe. I love this scare!

We ran a steel rod through the center of the light and two steel plates hit each other for a very loud scare.
We replaced the bulbs with the white rope light Allen Hopps suggested. We are building the wall around it today.
It's an awesome scare!! It will be when they think the whole haunt is over and ready to exit. Made another drop panel on a steel door at the fake exit , for one final scare inside ...before they exit into a surprise outdoor cage...surrounded by Beasts in stilts!!
One more week!!! Can't wait!!!